


To the Moon and Back

by Emilia_Rowan



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Adoption, Bisexual Lena Luthor, F/F, Kara is clueless, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena loves Kara, Pregnancy, Pregnant Kara Danvers, SO MUCH FLUFF, Slow Burn, Step-Parent, Supercorp endgame, alien baby, also angst, demisexual lena luthor, everybody needs a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-12-30 16:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18318590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emilia_Rowan/pseuds/Emilia_Rowan
Summary: Set after Season 2 finale, so forget everything you know from S3&S4Kara’s life is turned upside down by an unexpected consequence of Mon-El’s departure. Lena’s life is turned upside down by the decision to help her friend, no matter how much Lena’s heart is hurt in the process.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I wrote a prologue because my brain WILL NOT SHUT UP and now I’m not sure if I will continue because I can’t seem to finish any of my WIPS without starting a new idea. It’s a problem. But leave a comment if you like it and I’ll see where this one goes.

Lena Luthor never wanted to be a mother. She barely recalled her biological mother, and Lillian Luthor was a textbook case for how _not_ to parent a child. When Lena had learned that she really was Lionel’s daughter, a Luthor by blood, she felt it was probably better for the world at large if she never reproduced, if she was the last of that xenophobic, sociopathic bloodline.

Lena liked kids well enough, but she had always doubted she even had the capacity to love a child the way a mother was meant to love. She was a Luthor, emotionally stunted by default. She didn’t know how to love something, someone with every fiber of her being. She didn’t know she could be willing to give up everything, her wealth, her company, her status, even her life, for another person.

But looking down at the newborn in her arms, Lena knew that none of that was true. She was reminded suddenly of the Grinch from the movie Kara forced her to watch three versions of at Christmas. It felt as if her heart had suddenly grown inside her chest and she could almost burst from the feeling. She knew without a doubt that she would lay down everything, her life included, to ensure the health and happiness of the child in her arms.

She didn’t know she could feel like this. She didn’t know she could love someone this much. But as gray-blue eyes looked up into green, she was sure. She could love, _did_ love, this child, so, so much.

Never in her life would she have imagined she would be where she is now. If someone had told her, six months before, where she would be in this moment, she would’ve called them insane. She never would’ve believed that she would be standing in the middle of the med-bay of the DEO, cradling a child that carried none of her genes, none of her blood, and yet held all of her heart.


	2. Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara tells Lena her unexpected news. Kara needs a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just fyi, I have neurocardiogenic syncope (google it... it sucks) and I was having a really bad day while writing this, so I blame any grammatical errors, inconsistencies, or just bad writing on not getting enough blood flow to my brain. But writing SuperCorp angst made me feel better. So here you go.

Lena Luthor was achingly familiar with anxiety. She had survived assassination attempts, kidnappings, hostage situations, and alien invasions multiple times. Honestly, growing up a Luthor had probably given her more anxiety than any of those traumatizing situations. She was familiar with sweaty palms, unsteady knees, hitched breathing, and the sound of her heartbeat racing in her ears. So she knew, as she rode the elevator up to her best friend’s apartment, that she was more than a little nervous.

Six weeks had passed since the last time Lena saw Kara. Forty-two days— she was counting. Forty-two days since Lena had modified one of her brother’s inventions and dispersed lead into the atmosphere, causing the Daxamites to flee, ending the latest alien invasion. Forty-two days since Mon-el, the Daxamite Kara loved, also had to leave the planet or be killed by the lead in the atmosphere. Lena hadn’t been the one to press the button to engage the device, but she had created it. And before that, Lena had helped build the transmatter portal that enabled the invasion to happen at all.

So Lena hadn’t been surprised when Kara didn’t contact her after the invasion was over. Heartbroken, yes, but not surprised. She wouldn’t blame Kara if the woman wanted nothing to do with her after all the pain Lena had caused her. Lena had waited, had fought the urge to check in on her friend every single day, instead adding to the tally she kept in her head. She worried that Kara would think she no longer cared, but she also didn’t want to intrude or remind her friend of her pain.

If Lena knew anything better than she knew anxiety, she knew loss.

But she kept tabs on Kara the best she could. For the first couple of weeks it was easy— Supergirl was on the news daily, helping with the rebuilding of National City, stopping any crime so the city’s resources could focus on recovery. Yes, Lena knew Kara was Supergirl, and had known for a while, but she respected her friend’s desire to keep her identity a secret. If Lena was in her shoes, she wouldn’t be jumping for the opportunity to tell a Luthor her real identity either. 

If Lena knew anything better than she knew loss, she knew secrets. She knew how to hide skeletons in a closet. She knew how to take her feelings and push them down into little boxes and throw away the key.

But knowing Kara’s secret allowed Lena one way to check up on her, at least for the first few weeks. In the third week after the Daxamite invasion, however, Supergirl had effectively vanished. News reports over the missing superhero had been mixed, questioning why she had disappeared in the middle of her city’s recovery. But then the President herself had made an announcement that Supergirl was undertaking a mission off planet for the United States government and would be away for several months.

That had sent Lena into a panic, until she hacked into CatCo’s human resources department and found that Kara Danvers was still clocking in for work everyday. She had clocked in every day since the President’s announcement. It confused Lena, but it also made her wonder if, in her grief from Mon-el’s departure, Kara was giving up being a hero for a while. It made sense to Lena, and she wouldn’t fault the woman if that was the case.

But it meant that Lena had no way, other than hacking CatCo— which even Lena would admit was a little much— to keep tabs on her friend. She missed her friend— missed their banter over text message, their weekly lunches where Lena tried to convince Kara to try more green vegetables and Kara forced Lena to eat something fried, their occasional movie nights where Kara introduced her to the Disney movies Lena wasn’t allowed to watch in the Luthor household while Kara sang along with every song.

When Kara’s contact had flashed on her phone earlier that afternoon, relief spread through Lena like a cooling breeze. The text was short, giving nothing away, but it gave Lena hope that maybe, just maybe, they would be alright.

**KD: Can you come to my place tonight? I need your help with something.**

Which was why, three hours later, Lena stood outside Kara’s apartment with bags loaded down with takeout from five different restaurants and six flavors of Ben and Jerry’s. She kept telling herself that it wasn’t apology food— even with Kara’s alien metabolism, there was no amount of food to equal how horrible Lena felt about what had happened. She shuffled the bags in her hands, trying to find a way to knock, only to end up balancing on one stiletto-clad foot and tapping the metal door indelicately with the other.

The door opened on Lena’s second kick and for a split second she froze awkwardly, one foot still in the air, balanced precariously on one high heel, as her eyes fell on her best friend for the first time in forty-two days.

“Lena!” Kara exclaimed, her voice high, her smile wide, but somehow it didn’t reach her eyes.

Lena forced a smile and stepped into the apartment. “Hello, darling.”

Lena had visited Kara’s apartment enough times to know how Kara kept things. She knew Kara was always neat, not obsessively clean like Lena, but tidy.

At the moment, Kara’s apartment was anything but tidy. Her sinks were full of dirty dishes, the trashcan was full of take-out boxes, and the dining room table was covered in what Lena guessed was six weeks worth of mail. Throw blankets were strewn over every piece of living room furniture and the coffee table was stacked with what looked like textbooks, though lena couldn’t make out the titles from where she stood.

It wasn’t like Kara, but then again the woman in front of her didn’t look much like Kara either. Her hair was down— something she never did in front of Lena— and the roots were separated, like she had dragged her fingers through it over and over again. She wasn’t wearing makeup and there were dark circles under her eyes— Lena didn’t know a Kryptonian could look so tired. It was barely six pm and Kara was already dressed in wrinkled polka-dot pajama pants and an oversized NCU t-shirt— and she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath it either.

It was the most disheveled Lena had ever seen her friend, and it caused a pang in her chest. She swallowed down her concern and carried the bags over to the kitchen island.

“I know you didn’t say anything about food but I haven’t eaten and I figured you hadn’t had time to eat dinner either. Plus I didn’t know what you might want, so I may have gone a bit overboard,” Lena rambled— a habit she had picked up from Kara. She popped the icecream into the freezer and began unpacking the rest of the food.

“Lena, you shouldn’t have,” Kara said from behind her.

“You know it’s nothing,” Lena said with a wave of her hand. “I got Italian from Francesca’s, sticky buns from Noonan’s, pad thai from Kin Thai, potstickers from that place on the corner— I can never pronounce their name correctly— and fish tacos from the food truck on Cordova, I know you’re not a fan but they’re my favorite… Kara?”

She turned as she opened the container of tacos and saw Kara’s face go from white to green like some bizarre magic trick. Then Kara moved so fast that Lena felt the rush of air and barely saw a blur. Before Lena could process it all she heard Kara retching in the bathroom and the sound of vomit hitting water.

Lena didn’t even know Kryptonians could get sick.

“Kara, are you alright?” she called, knocking softly at the bedroom door.

“Give me a minute,” Kara replied before she retched again.

“Do you need me to get you something?” Lena asked.

“Um… I don’t think so.” Kara hurled again. “Actually, I hate to ask you this, but could you get rid of the tacos? I can’t stand the smell of fish right now. I’m really sorry, I know you love them but…”

The rest of her sentence was lost into the toilet bowl, along with the contents of her stomach. Lena hurried to the kitchen and tossed the entire container of tacos into the trash bag, then tied the bag shut and hauled it outside to the chute at the end of hall. When she made it back inside she no longer heard the sound of Kara puking. She poured her friend a glass of water and made her way toward the bathroom.

“Is it safe to enter?” she asked from the doorway.

“Yeah, I’m okay now,” Kara replied. She was still in the floor, resting against the side of her bathtub. Lena offered her the glass of water and Kara took it with a weak smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Lena said, backing away in case whatever Kara had was contagious. “Do you have a stomach bug or something?”

“Stomach bug,” Kara repeated with a chuckle, as if the term was comical. “No, not a stomach bug.”

Kara downed the water and stood. She reached for her toothbrush and Lena stepped out of the bathroom to give her friend enough room to brush her teeth.

“Food poisoning?” Lena asked, eyes darting around Kara’s bedroom. It wasn’t in much better shape than the rest of the apartment. The bed wasn’t made, and clothes were scattered on the floor and thrown haphazardly across the chair in the corner. An empty glass and a packet of saltine crackers were on one bedside table, and a couple of books rested on the other, one opened like Kara had been reading it before bed.

“No, no food poisoning,” Kara answered between brushing her teeth.

Lena was naturally drawn to the books, curiosity getting the better of her. The title of the closed book glittered in the evening light— _Romeo and Juliet_ — the romantic tragedy both surprised and saddened Lena. She placed a finger inside the other book to hold Kara’s place before flipping it closed so she could see the title.

“K— Kara?”

She looked up to see Kara standing in the bathroom door. Her eyes flickered from her friend’s face to the book on the nightstand, once then twice and then a third time as her brain tried to process the information.

_What to Expect When You’re Expecting_

“Kara, are you pregnant?” Lena asked, and she’s genuinely surprised at how steady her voice sounds while her insides are tied up in knots.

Kara’s face flashed so many emotions so quickly that Lena can barely keep up— fear, and joy, and pain, and hope. Lena knew the answer before Kara even spoke it aloud.

“Yeah, I’m pregnant,” Kara said.

Suddenly Supergirl’s disappearance, her expected absence for the next several months, made perfect sense. The image of a heavily pregnant Supergirl flashed in Lena’s mind and she almost laughed, but the humor was overshadowed as more realities crash into her consciousness.

“Oh,” she said finally, simply.

“Do you wanna eat now?” Kara asked. “I know it’s weird, but now that I’ve thrown up my stomach is empty and I’m absolutely starving.”

Lena nodded, her brain still processing. She followed Kara into the kitchen and somehow managed to fix herself a plate— chicken alfredo, now that her tacos are in the trash— though her mind is elsewhere. A few minutes later she found herself on the sofa beside Kara, mind still catching up with the situation.

“Alex was the same way,” Kara said as she took her first bite of a potsticker. “Mmm, I love these.”

“What do you mean?” Lena asked, swirling her pasta around her fork.

“She was speechless,” Kara told her. “It took her about twenty minutes to actually talk, so you’re actually handling this better so far.”

Lena couldn’t help but grin at the thought of the tough government agent being rendered speechless, although she can definitely relate to the woman’s shock.

“It’s… I wasn’t expecting _that_ ,” Lena said.

“I wasn’t either,” Kara admitted. “I mean… I didn’t even know Mon-el and I were genetically compatible. I didn’t realize this was a possibility.”

“So the baby is half-Daxamite and half…” Lena’s voice trailed off. She didn’t know if Kara would tell her now, or if she would be okay with Kara knowing.

Kara sighed, poking at her rice absentmindedly. “Lena, I need to—“

“Half-Kryptonian,” Lena supplied, because she can’t stand to hear Kara stutter it out. She doesn’t want to make Kara search for the words when she already knows.

Kara’s forehead crinkled. “You knew?”

Lena nodded, forking a bite of pasta into her mouth.

“How long?” Kara asked.

“Um, since you came to my office with Superman,” she said simply.

“But I never…” Kara’s eyes widened comically. “You know Clark is…?”

“Kara, darling, I was around Superman and Clark Kent from the time I was a teenager. Just because Lex was blind doesn’t mean I was too,” she said with a frown. “Lex never figured it out. And after he set his mind to killing Superman I wasn’t about to tell him the truth.”

Kara leaned back into the sofa cushions. “You really are the smartest Luthor.”

“You’re damn right I am,” Lena said. She tried to keep a straight face as she chewed her food but after a moment she and Kara both broke out into giggles.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad you know,” Kara sighed. “That makes things so much easier.”

“I’m glad you trust me with this,” Lena said, placing a hand soothingly on Kara’s knee. “Well, with your identity and with… _this._ ”

“Yeah, about… this,” Kara sighed. “That’s what I need your help with, actually.”

Lena sat up straighter at that. “Anything, Kara, whatever you need.”

Kara bit her lip. “I, um… I need you to remove the lead from the atmosphere.”

Lena’s eyes widened. Her mind immediately began running calculations and scenarios. “Kara…”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, I do,” Kara said quickly. “But this baby is half-Daxamite. It might have the same weakness to lead and that means… that means…”

“It would die in our atmosphere,” Lena finished softly.

Kara’s blue eyes welled up with tears. One hand moved absentmindedly to rub her lower stomach and Lena felt her heart skip a beat. This was really happening.

“Kara, if we remove the lead from the atmosphere, the Daxamites might come back,” Lena said softly.

Kara’s eyes hardened. “So that means my baby has to die?”

“No!” Lena exclaimed. “I didn’t mean… I didn’t mean that, Kara, I swear, I was just thinking out loud.”

Kara’s face returned to a sad but peaceful expression. She moved her half-eaten plate of food off her lap and sat it on top of a pile of textbooks on the coffee table.

“I know what removing the lead from the atmosphere might mean,” she said softly. “I know it better than anybody. But I can’t… Lena, I can’t…”

“Shh,” Lena said, moving her plate and scooting closer to Kara as the blonde burst into tears. She pulled Kara onto her shoulder and smoothed her fingers through the ends of tangled blonde curls. “I know. Nobody’s asking you to do that, Kara.”

“The government is,” Kara said softly.

“What?” Lena asked.

“I went to them first,” she explained. “After I figured out what my symptoms were, after Alex confirmed that I was pregnant. I went to J’onn, and he ordered that the scientists start figuring out how to remove the lead. But word spread to higher-ups and the president herself ordered him to stop working on it. She said we couldn’t risk the safety of the planet for one life.”

“That bitch!” Lena exclaimed, horrified. “Kara, that’s terrible. That’s absolutely despicable.”

“Well, she is the same president who was willing to destroy the Daxamite ship with you, me, and Mon-El still on board,” Kara said with a shrug. “I’m not sure why I was surprised.”

They both sat quietly for a long while. Lena felt a damp spot growing on the shoulder of her blouse but she refused to move. She had cried on Kara’s shoulder many times before, so she figured it was long past time she repay the favor.

“I didn’t know it was possible,” Kara said after a while. “I mean, I knew Daxamites and Kryptonians were genetically related, but I still figured it was a long-shot that we were actually genetically compatible. And I always thought I was infertile.”

“Really?” Lena asked, curiosity peaked.

“Well, women on Krypton haven’t had children naturally in centuries,” Kara explained. “Pregnancy is physically inconvenient, so they developed something called the Birthing Mattix. It takes genetic material from both parents and creates an embryo. Gestation takes place in the Matrix and infants are effectively born from it. Kal-El— Superman— was the first natural birth in centuries.”

“Why was he a natural birth?” Lena asked.

“My uncle Jor-El was a bit of a scientific rebel,” Kara said with a wry grin. “He believed the Matrix was manipulating Kryptonian DNA too much. Plus, he actually loved his wife. But the pregnancy and birth were difficult on Lara— Kal-El’s mother. I remember thinking that when I had children, I was definitely using the Birthing Matrix.”

“And here you are pregnant,” Lena couldn’t help but tease.

“Twelve-year-old me would be scandalized,” Kara smiled, but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared. “After I came to Earth, I thought I would never have children. I put that desire away. I didn’t know if Kryptonians and humans were genetically compatible, first of all. And then there was the matter of my abilities. My muscles are super-strong, even on the inside. Alex once hypothesized that even if I did manage to conceive, my internal muscles would crush the fetus instead of allowing it to develop naturally.”

“But since the baby’s Kryptonian and Daxamite, it’s strong enough to withstand the pressure,” Lena hypothesized.

“That seems to be the case,” Kara said, looking down and rubbing her belly affectionately. “I waited for weeks, thinking one day I would wake up and my body would’ve… I just wouldn’t be pregnant anymore. But it never happened. Alex says if I’ve made it this far, then I’m probably not going to miscarry.”

“How far along are you?” Lena asked.

“Alex is estimating nine weeks,” Kara replied. “Since I don’t get a period, it’s harder to calculate.”

“No period? Lucky bitch,” Lena joked, and Kara grinned up at her.

“There are some perks to this whole alien thing,” she shrugged.

“Do Kryptonian pregnancies last forty weeks like human pregnancies?” Lena asked. She needed to know when her deadline was for removing the lead from the atmosphere.

Kara grimaced. “I’m not sure. Like I said, Lara was the first Kryptonian woman to have a natural birth in centuries, and I was only twelve. I don’t remember all the details. But Alex modified an ultrasound machine so she can monitor the baby’s growth, and she thinks it’s developing at the same speed as a human pregnancy.”

Lena nodded, doing math in her head. “So you’re due… late January?”

Kara nodded somberly. “I feel… I feel like a ticking timebomb, to be honest. Like, now that I know my body’s not going to crush it, as long as the baby stays inside of me, it’s safe. But once it’s born…”

Tears welled up in Kara’s eyes again, and Lena pulled her back into her embrace.

“I’m going to fix this,” Lena said sternly. “No more crying, Kara Danvers. I’m going to fix this.”

“I keep thinking of my mother,” Kara sobbed. “I keep seeing her face, when she put me into that pod. I’ve always wondered what she must’ve been thinking, in that moment, how desperate she must’ve felt to put her child in a pod and send me away to save me. And now I know.”

“You’re not going to have to do that,” Lena assured her.

“I can’t sleep,” Kara admitted. “I keep having nightmares. At first I just kept replaying putting Mon-El into the pod, but after I found out I was pregnant, it changed. Instead of putting Mon-El into the pod, I was putting our baby into a pod and sending it off into space.”

“Kara—“ Lena began.

“It broke me to put Mon-El in that pod, Lena,” Kara sobbed. “It broke me, but when I found out I still had a part of him, I managed to put myself back together. But if I have to put my child in a pod… Lena, I don’t think I could ever recover from that.”

“Kara, stop!” Lena ordered sternly. She didn’t like having to use that tone with her friend, but she also knew that she couldn’t let Kara continue to spiral. “You are never going to have to make that choice. You will never have to put your baby into a pod and send it away from this planet. I’m going to fix this mess and you’re going to have a beautiful, healthy baby, you’re going to be a wonderful mother, and you’re going to live happily ever after just like those fairytales you made me watch, I promise. Hell, once we remove the lead from the atmosphere, it’ll even be safe for Mon-El to come back. You can be a happy little family.”

Kara shook her head. “Mon-El is gone.”

“I’m sure we can—“ Lena began.

“No, I’ve had Winn tracking the pod since it left Earth,” Kara said. “It disappeared less than twelve hours after leaving the planet. We don’t know what happened, if the Daxamites shot it down, or if another alien species shot it down, or maybe it malfunctioned. But… Mon-El is gone. I put him in that pod to save him and… I killed him.”

“Kara,” Lena said, and now tears are running down her own cheeks. Tears because while she didn’t know Mon-El very well, in all her interactions with him he seemed like a good guy, and tears because Kara had very much been in love with him. “Kara, I’m so sorry.”

“I’ve cried so much, Lena,” Kara told her. “I cried until my eyes couldn’t even make more tears, until they burned from it, and somehow I still cried more. I cried until I’m absolutely sick of crying. I loved Mon-El more than I’ve ever loved anyone, Lena, and I lost him. It was my choice, this planet or Mon-El, and I chose to save the planet. It was a sacrifice I was barely willing to make, but I made it. But now… now it’s the choice between this planet or my baby. This baby is all I have left of him but, even more than that, this baby is _mine._ It’s my baby, Lena. I’m not willing to make that sacrifice. I’m not. Please…”

“You’ll never have to,” Lena assured her. “Kara, I promise you. I promise that you’re never going to have to make that sacrifice. I’m going to figure this out. I promise you. I promise. I promise.”

She repeated the words over and over into blonde hair, holding Kara against her shoulder, rocking her slightly as they both cried. When finally their tears had all dried off, Lena continued holding Kara in her arms, as if her fragile human body could protect the alien goddess from the world. The sun began to set, casting a red-orange glow through the windows.

“This time of day always reminds me of Krypton,” Kara said finally, her voice soft.

“Will you tell me about it?” Lena asked, both curious about the alien world and eager to change the subject. She wasn’t sure if it was a better subject, talking about the planet Kara had lost, but it was something.

Kara looked up and offered her a brilliant, tear-stained smile. “My favorite place on Krypton was the Fire Falls...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the SuperCorp fandom has mixed feelings about Mon-El but I refuse to downplay Kara’s feelings for him. Watching the Season 2 finale is heartbreaking to me. Also, a person is allowed to truly, deeply love more than one person in their life.


	3. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex brings Lena bad news. Game night at Kara's and telling the SuperFriends the big news. Some super-fluffy Lena-Kara interactions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a hot minute. I honestly wrote the first half of this chapter over a month ago and struggled with the Game Night half because I thought it was going to be heavy, but it turned out to be more humorous than I expected. I hope 5000+ words of angst, humor, and unadulterated fluff make up for the hiatus.

Throughout her life, Lena had developed a variety of coping mechanisms, some healthy, some unhealthy, and some that lay somewhere in between. Meditation and breathing exercises: healthy. Her genetic predisposition to alcoholism: unhealthy. Her ability to box up her emotions and tuck them away in the darkest recesses of her mind in order for her to actually get some fucking work done without having a mental breakdown: somewhere in between.

It was a strategy she had developed far earlier in life than she cared to admit. Lena liked to imagine that her mind was a vault full of tiny boxes that she could open and shut at will. Some boxes remained shoved at the back of the vault undisturbed for years, gathering dust. Some she only tucked away temporarily, until the appropriate time to address them. It was a neat little system, and it allowed Lena to function in times of crisis— which, as a CEO and as a Luthor, seemed to be always. There were, however, flaws to the system.

Sometimes boxes overflowed. And they usually overflowed at the most inopportune times. When the healthy coping mechanisms failed, she tended to revert to the unhealthy ones. That was why Lena was pouring herself a second glass of scotch at three-thirty on a Tuesday afternoon.

The box marked **Kara Danvers** was overflowing.

It was a complicated, chaotic box, though it hadn’t always been. Lena had barely noticed Kara the first time they had met, too focused on the fact that Superman in disguise was in her office. Then Lena had realized exactly who Kara was, and she was intrigued. She wanted to figure out the woman behind the cape, and it had been startling easy. Kara Danvers had carved a place into Lena’s life and heart with ease. Not only was Kara naturally charming and kind, she and Lena’s personalities just seemed to mesh in a way Lena had never experienced with anyone else. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time. For the first time in her life, Lena had a true friend, someone who stood in her corner and believed in her even when everything seemed stacked against her.

Lena had never had friends like Kara. Hell, she’d never had _family_ like Kara. Luthors didn’t have friends, they had minions.

It shouldn’t have surprised Lena, really, when her friendly feelings toward Kara began to evolve into something else. That was her modus operandi when it came to love. Apparently there was a label for her, _demisexual_ —she had Googled it once. Lena could count on one hand the number of times she had been in love— her high school roommate, her college lab partner, Jack Spheer, and now… With all of these people, they had started out as friends, and then she realized that she was attracted to them romantically and, well, sexually. Gender didn’t seem to matter— her roommate was female, her lab partner was male, Jack was a man, and now Kara…

It just complicated things when the feelings weren’t reciprocated. She had learned that from the lab partner. She had worked with him for three semesters when that pesky attraction reared its head and, stupid girl that she was, she decided to act on it. Turns out he wouldn’t have touched a Luthor with a ten-foot pole if it hadn’t been for her brain doing most of the work and earning them both top marks in the class. She still had to work as his partner until the end of the semester, and those were easily the most awkward two months of Lena’s life.

She wasn’t sure when her feelings for Kara began to change, but she knew the exact moment that her conscious mind realized it. It was the night Jack died, the night… She had made a decision, and it was a choice she would make a hundred times over. She had loved Jack, once upon a time. Her life had been entwined in his, both professionally and personally. But when things ended between them she had learned that she could actually live without him. Her life would go on without him in it.

She couldn’t imagine her life without Kara.

So when it came down to a choice, to save Kara or to save Jack… it was simple, really. Even more than the choice itself, the ease with which she made the choice had haunted her for months.

Kara had been dating Mon-El. And even if she hadn’t been, Lena was pretty sure Kara was one hundred percent straight. So Lena had taken any romantic and sexual feelings toward her friend and shoved them roughly into one of her little boxes. Sure, sometimes her words and actions came out a little flirtier than friendly, and sometimes her gaze might get caught on Kara’s biceps or legs for a few seconds longer than was polite, or Kara’s smile would leave Lena flustered and speechless, but other than that Lena thought she had her unrequited affections under control.

That was before. Before Kara was pregnant with a child belonging to her missing-presumed-dead boyfriend. Until that happened, Lena hadn’t realized that she was actually holding out a sliver of hope that she and Kara might someday become something more than best friends. Every logical part of Lena’s brain knew that hope was foolish, and yet, tucked away in one of those little boxes, it festered and grew.

But that hope was dead now, crushed by the overwhelming weight of reality. A child would be a constant reminder of the love Kara had lost, the love Lena had been instrumental in ending. Kara would be a mother— a wonderful mother, of that Lena had no doubt— and Lena had no business being in a relationship with someone who had a child. Lena wasn’t exactly the maternal type. Besides, no parent in their right mind would want a Luthor around their child.

Lena’s ruminations were interrupted by the heavy doors of her opening unexpectedly. She had no more appointments that afternoon, and any unexpected visitors would be fielded and announced by her assistant. But when a lanky redhead charged in, her assistant Jess following breathless on her heels, Lena understood why she didn’t get a warning.

“I’m sorry, Miss Luthor, she just—“ Jess panted and gestured to the other woman.

“It’s fine, Jess,” Lena said evenly. “In fact, Agent Danvers is to have unlimited access to my office and to me, however, I would appreciate it if she would give you time to announce her presence before charging in, unless it is an absolute emergency.”

Lena leveled Alex with a pointed expression as she finished her statement and the Agent gave her the barest of nods in return.

“I’ll be sure to change her security status,” Jess agreed, shooting a curious and slightly-peeved look toward the agent as she left the office. Lena expected the curiosity— the only other person granted unfettered access to her while at work was Kara.

“Agent Danvers, it’s good to see you again,” Lena said, pushing aside her swirling emotions along with her nearly-empty glass of scotch. “What brings you by?”

Alex’s brown eyes were stony as she took a seat across the desk from Lena. “I think you know.”

“Most likely, but I’d like to hear it from you,” Lena replied. “Are you here as Kara’s sister, Supergirl’s handler, or DEO agent?”

Alex sighed. “DEO agent first. I have to deliver these.”

She slid a black folder across Lena’s desk, which Lena promptly opened.

“You can’t be serious!” Lena exclaimed.

“It’s a federal order to cease and desist in your research toward clearing the air of lead particles,” Alex said, although that was obvious.

“You reported me?” Lena hissed furiously.

“Of course not!” Alex hissed in reply, clearly offended by the suggestion. “Director J’onzz and I were the only ones at the DEO who knew Kara had confided in you, and we didn’t tell a soul. It was one of your researchers who reported you. I actually tried to get you the name, but it’s being kept confidential, above my clearance level.”

“Those bastards,” Lena said, slumping back into her chair.

“I think whoever reported it feared that removing the lead from the atmosphere would allow the Daxamite invaders to return,” Alex said, as if that explanation made any difference to Lena.

“I don’t care why they did it or which one of them did it, I’m firing the whole team,” Lena said furiously. “What I’m doing is in no way illegal, so they had no reason to report it, and doing so is a blatant violation of the confidentiality clause of their contracts.”

“It was probably just one person,” Alex interrupted, but Lena waved her hand dismissively.

“I only had a five-person team on the project. I don’t care which of the five was responsible, they’re all out. I guess the old saying is true, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

“Lena, you can’t resume this project yourself either,” Alex cautioned. “If you’re caught even researching how to remove the lead from the atmosphere, you’ll be arrested for defying a federal order.”

“Then what would you have me do, Alex? Tell Kara that her baby is going to die as soon as she delivers?” Lena exclaimed angrily. Alex only raised a brow in response to her outburst. Lena took a deep breath and blinked back hot tears. “My apologies. I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you. We’re on the same side, after all.”

“I understand, Lena, I do,” Alex said, reaching into her jacket pocket. “Which brings me to the other reason for my visit.”

She pulled a black flashdrive from her pocket and offered it to Lena. The CEO took hold of the opposite end but Alex didn’t automatically release her vice-like grip on the device.

“This drive contains all the information the DEO has collected on Kryptonian and Daxamite biology,” Alex told her, her expression severe. “I don’t have to tell you how classified this information is or how much trouble I would be in if anyone knew I was giving it to you.”

Lena nodded. “I understand. I give you my word that I will be the only person with access to this information.”

Alex nodded and let go of the drive. “I trust you, Lena. Not as a DEO agent, but as Kara Danvers’s sister. If you need anything else that we might have in storage— blood or tissue samples, for example— I will do my best to get it for you. And if you need any help on this project, you have my services when I’m not working for the DEO— I’m not exactly useless in a lab.”

“I’d say you’re the expert on this,” Lena replied. “I appreciate this, Alex, more than you know. I promised Kara that I would fix this. I may be a Luthor, but I do care about her.”

“I know you do,” Alex said, sitting back in her chair and leveling Lena with a look that was far too knowing for Lena’s liking. “Lena, Kara has… Kara’s been through a lot, you know that. I don’t think she can handle anything else… _heavy_ right now.”

Lena raised her brows in an expression that she hoped was far more nonchalant than she felt. “I don’t know what you mean. My only goals with Kara are to ensure the health of her child, once it’s born, and try to be there for her in the meantime— as her friend.”

“Hmm,” Alex hummed, her eyes flickering to Lena’s unfinished glass of scotch. “Well, I’ll leave you to your _work_. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Of course,” Lena replied as Alex stood. They shook hands as if they had just completed a business transaction, and Lena wondered if the agent was trained to feel her racing pulse through their joined hands.

“Oh, one more thing,” Alex said as she walked toward the door. “Kara’s having a game night tomorrow night at her apartment. She would really like it if you would come.”

Lena bit the side of her tongue at Alex’s words. “She texted me about that last night. I told her I would probably be busy working.”

“Did she tell you that she’s planning to tell the rest of her friends about the baby?” Alex asked, and Lena shook her head. “I figured as much. It would mean a lot to her if you were there, Lena. She needs all the support she can get right now.”

Lena nodded in affirmation. “I’ll rearrange some things. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” Alex said sincerely. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night,” Lena confirmed with a nod. Once the doors were closed behind the agent, Lena turned and leaned against the cool wood and sighed.

She was so screwed.

 

*******

“Lena! You made it!”

Lena’s eyes widened as Kara pulled her through the door and into a tight hug. Game night was already in full swing in the apartment, if the noise level was any indication.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as they separated. “I got caught up in the lab and didn’t realize what time it was until my assistant reminded me that I was supposed to leave an hour ago.”

“It’s fine, I’m just glad you’re here,” Kara said, grabbing Lena’s hand and squeezing gently.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Lena assured her.

Kara tugged her through the apartment to the livingroom where her other friends were already gathered around. Lena recognized Alex, of course, and her fiance, Maggie. Then there was Winn Schott from the DEO, and James Olsen from CatCo. A petite woman was perched on the arm of the sofa beside James, and something about her looked familiar to Lena but she couldn’t place her.

“Look who’s here!” Kara announced, pulling Lena down to sit beside her on the opposite end of the sofa from James. “Oh, Lena, you probably haven’t met Lucy. Lena Luthor, meet Lucy Lane. Lucy, this is Lena.”

“Oh, that’s where I know you!” Lena exclaimed. “You’re…”

“Lois’s sister, yeah,” Lucy said with an eye roll. “If you promise not to ever mention it again, I promise to never mention your older sibling, either.”

Lena’s eyes widened. “Sounds like a good deal.”

Lucy nodded and bent down to whisper something to James. Kara took that moment to lean over and whisper in Lena’s ear.

“They were a _thing_.”

“ _Were_?” Lena questioned.

“Exactly,” Kara said, wiggling her eyebrows. “Lucy just moved back to National City from D.C. We’re all kind of plotting to get them back together, but from the looks of things it’s not going to take much.”

Lena nodded in agreement. Her attention was drawn from Kara when a glass of wine appeared in her face. She looked up at Alex, who looked much happier than the last time she had seen her.

“You’re probably gonna need this,” Alex said as Lena accepted the glass. Then her brown eyes narrowed and she looked Lena up and down. “Are those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?”

Lena felt her cheeks turn pink and she took a big gulp of the wine. She had thought the black slacks and white blouse were commonplace enough, but leave it to the eagle-eyed agent to notice something so trivial.

“I may have pulled an all-nighter at L-Corp dealing with the issues you brought to my attention yesterday, and reviewing the information you gave me,” she said quickly, taking another sip of wine.

Lena had gotten a lot done in the last twenty-six-and-a-half hours at L-Corp. She’d sobered up quickly after Alex left her office and stuffed her emotions back into the appropriate boxes— she had work to do.

After she’d set her human resources department to drafting severance packages to the scientists who had been working on the atmospheric lead project and set her lawyers to picking apart the presidential order for any loopholes, she’d went to work studying the information on the flash drive Alex had given her.

The alien biology was fascinating to Lena because of her very nature, but even more so because it gave her a chance to learn more about Kara. She had spent all night in her office, poring over the information and making notes for later. By the time the sun rose over the National City skyline, Lena had a plan of action. That alone filled her with a mixture of confidence and fear— confidence that she now had a plan, and fear that it could fail in so many ways. As a scientist Lena had failed exponentially more times than she had succeeded. But she couldn’t allow herself to fail this— she couldn’t fail Kara.

When Jess reported to work Lena had her cancel all of her scheduled meetings for the day. She’d spent one hour firing the scientists, and for once she didn’t feel any remorse from firing employees. Then she’d spent another hour in legal dealing with the presidential order. After she was finished there, Lena had spent the rest of her day in the lab.

She was running off caffeine and willpower by the time Jess interrupted her and reminded her of game night at Kara’s. She took just enough time to make sure her lab and office were left in pristine condition before grabbing her things and heading out. She hadn’t even taken time to go by the hotel room she was living out of before heading to Kara’s.

“Lena, you can’t do that,” Kara chided.

“I had _very important_ work to do, Kara,” she replied, glancing down toward Kara’s stomach in what she hoped was a subtle gesture.

“Yes, but you have to take care of yourself, too,” Kara said, reaching up and tucking a stray strand of hair behind Lena’s ear. The motion made Lena’s breath catch, but she tried to not let it show. Before she could comment, Winn was shoving a beat-up fedora filled with bits of paper into Kara’s face.

“Come on, it’s game night, let’s pick a game,” he insisted.

Kara rolled her eyes and pulled a piece of paper from the hat. “Scrabble.”

Alex and Lucy groaned simultaneously. “Seriously?”

“Hey, don’t knock Scrabble,” James said, poking Lucy in the side.

“Okay, but the usual rules apply,” Lucy replied. “No foreign languages,” she pointed at Kara and Maggie, “no medical terminology,” she pointed at Alex before finally turning to Winn, “and no geeky tech lingo.”

“That hardly seems fair,” Winn muttered under his breath.

“I am not spending the majority of the game Googling words to see if they’re actually real words,” Lucy told him. “And I can’t even Google Kryptonian.”

“It’s like you don’t trust us,” Kara said, feigning hurt.

“Not even a little bit, Danvers,” Lucy replied with a huff.

Lena chuckled at their antics but pulled a handful of squares from the bag.

Kara won at Scrabble without breaking any of the rules, much to Lucy’s chagrin. The next game out of the hat was Apples to Apples, which James somehow won in spite of Alex swearing her combinations were the funniest every round. Monopoly was drawn out third, but that idea was quickly nixed because “Is there really any doubt that the actual CEO would kick our asses?” (Lena did in fact have many doubts that she would, as she had never actually played the board game, but she didn’t say that out loud.) They drew again and the card said Poker, which made both Lucy and Maggie jump up from their seats in excitement.

“I’ll get the chips,” Maggie volunteered, heading for the closet.

“I’m getting another drink,” Alex said, and her voice sounded like she thought she was going to need it.

“Yeah, I think a snack break is definitely in order,” James said, moving to stand up from his seat.

“Actually, um, before we do that,” Kara interrupted, “I need to tell you guys something.”

Lena could feel the tension radiating off Kara’s form beside her. She took Kara’s hand between hers and squeezed reassuringly.

“We— I mean, I have an announcement to make,” Kara said softly.

“Oh my God, you and Lena are dating!” Lucy shouted excitedly.

Alex nearly choked on her wine. Lena was glad she hadn’t been drinking anything at the time or she might’ve done the same thing. She yanked her hands away from Kara’s like they were on fire and shuffled away from her as much as she could on the lumpy sofa.

“What?!” she and Kara exclaimed at the same time.

“I mean, you guys are kind of—” Winn chimed in.

“She’s not even gay, you idiots,” James said, smacking both Winn and Lucy in the heads— Winn with much more force than Lucy.

“Ow!” Winn huffed, rubbing his skull.

“Not cool, babe,” Lucy complained.

“That’s not… No, we’re not dating,” Kara stuttered, shooting Lena an apologetic look.

“So, what’s the announcement?” James asked.

“I’m, um… I’m pregnant,” Kara said, her voice barely loud enough to be heard.

Silence. Lena had honestly never heard Kara’s apartment so quiet, particularly on a game night. Lena could see the realization dawn on all of their faces as they put two and two together.

“Like, with a baby?” Winn said finally.

“No, with a pony, dumbass,” Lucy quipped. “Of course she means she’s pregnant with a baby.”

Maybe it was exhaustion, or anxiety, or a little of both, but Lena couldn’t stop herself. She burst into laughter. A moment later Kara was laughing beside her, and after that it was like a dam had burst. The room was filled with laughter again and James pulled Kara from the sofa and into a strong hug.

“Congratulations,” he said, though his voice wasn’t quite as joyful as it might’ve been in another situation. Lena knew why—they all did.

“Thanks, James,” Kara said, hugging him back just as tightly.

“Yeah, congratulations,” Winn said, pulling Kara away from James and into his own hug. Mid-embrace his eyes got huge and he pulled away, much to Kara’s confusion. He looked her up and down, eyes finally settling on her stomach. “Oh my god, you’re pregnant! With a baby! There’s a baby in there!”

“Good to know you passed fifth grade human growth and development class, Winn,” Alex muttered as she returned to her seat with a very full glass of wine.

Kara, on the other hand, was giggling at Winn’s antics. “Yep, Alex did a sonogram today. There’s definitely a baby in there.”

“Oh my god!” Winn bent down until his head was level with Kara’s stomach. “Hi, little guy! Or girl. Are you even a guy or girl yet? Are you a tadpole? Holy crap, what do alien fetuses even look like, Kara?”

“C’mere, Winn, I have pictures,” Alex said, pulling a stack of papers from her purse.

“Ahh! Baby’s first pictures!” Winn exclaimed, making his way over to Alex.

Lucy was much more sedate than the boys. She took Kara’s hands in hers and spoke so quietly Lena almost couldn’t hear her.

“Have you told Clark and Lois?” she asked.

“Yeah, I told them a couple of weeks ago,” Kara replied. “They were… happy. Worried for me, of course, but happy.”

“And are you? Happy, I mean?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Kara sighed. “I mean… It’s not ideal, obviously, doing this without… well, doing this alone. But I’m happy about the baby. I’m happy about being a mom. And I’m not really alone, I guess. I’ve got you guys.”

“You sure do,” Lucy said with a smile. She tugged Kara into a tight hug as well, then went to the kitchen to get another beer.

Kara plopped down beside Lena on the sofa, and they returned to their earlier positions with Lena practically curled into Kara’s side.

“That went well,” Lena said after a moment.

“Yeah, they’re all really great,” Kara said. “I’m sorry about what Lucy said, by the way. I don’t know where she got that idea, honestly.”

Lena, on the other hand, knew exactly where Lucy got that idea, but she wasn’t going to tell Kara that.

“It’s fine,” she said instead.

“I mean, she’s a little crazy,” Kara shrugged. “But she’s a good person.”

Lucy was _not_ a good person when it came to poker. Lena thought she knew the meaning of the word _ruthless_ until she played poker with Lucy Lane and Maggie Sawyer. Alex was almost as bad. Kara, for being the girl of steel, had no poker face, so she was the first one out, followed by Winn. Lena was out shortly behind them, although from an unlucky draw rather than a horrible poker face. Lena settled back into Kara’s side on the sofa and tried to follow along with the game between all the other women trash talking James and each other— but mainly James. The last thing Lena remembered was Lucy gloating victoriously as she took over half of James’s chips in a hand.

*******

“Hey, Lena, wake up.”

Lena pulled herself out of the haze of sleep slowly and unwillingly. She was comfortable, or as comfortable as she could be wearing her work clothes and halfway sitting upright, and warm, so, so warm, and tired, absolutely exhausted.

“Come on, sleepyhead, rise and shine,” Kara said, nudging her awake.

Lena opened her eyes to an empty apartment. Kara was still beside her, grinning. Lena pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes, no doubt smearing what was left of her makeup.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she said with a yawn. “You should’ve woken me up.”

“You needed to rest,” Kara said sternly. “You’re exhausted.”

“I’ll be fine, just ten more minutes,” Lena said, leaning back against the sofa cushions and closing her eyes again.

“So… Alex told me about the court order,” Kara said softly.

Lena’s eyes shot open at that and she turned to look at Kara. “That’s nothing to worry about.”

“Lena, of course it is!” Kara exclaimed, but Lena just shook her head, wide awake now.

“No, actually, it’s not,” she told her. “Listen, Lex once told me that all legal documents have loopholes, especially those crafted by the government. And in this case, he was right. I’ve read through the legalese three times myself and had my lawyers inspect it as well. The order forbids me or anyone in my employ from attempting to remove the lead from the atmosphere. It doesn’t forbid finding a cure for the lead poisoning itself.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

Lena nodded. “It’s probably a smarter way to go, now that I think about it. I’ve already started studying exactly how Daxamites react to lead compared to human reactions. It has some similarities but the Daxamite reaction is much faster and more severe. It’s not like your reaction to the Kryptonite radiation at all, those are two completely different physiological processes. It’s really quite fascinating.”

Kara’s forehead crinkled. “Alex told me she gave you information on Kryptonian and Daxamite biology yesterday. You’ve already figured all of this out?”

Lena flushed. “Well, I may have ignored some basic human functions like sleeping and eating in the process, but…”

“Lena!” Kara admonished. “You can’t do that!”

“Kara, I told you that I’m going to solve this problem, and that’s what I’m going to do!” Lena said firmly.

“Yes, and I appreciate that, but I don’t want you to work yourself to death in the process,” Kara told her. “I know you, Lena Luthor. You’re so good, you put everyone else’s needs before your own because you don’t think you deserve to be taken care of. But if you work yourself until you crash, then you’re not going to be any good to anyone. So please, promise me that you’ll get an adequate amount of sleep while you’re working on this. And that you’ll eat regularly. Don’t make Supergirl force feed you your meals. What would your employees think?”

Lena snorted. “You _would_ do that.”

“You betcha,” Kara nodded. “So promise me I won’t have to stoop to such levels.”

Lena sighed. “Okay, I’m not promising perfection. Because there will be nights that I have breakthroughs and spend too long in the lab and maybe even pull some allnighters. But I promise that if I pull an allnighter I will take it easy the next day and will not pull two allnighters in a row. And if I work through mealtime I will at least have a snack. Does that suffice?”

Kara leveled Lena with a stare that would have fit in any boardroom Lena had ever been inside. She held up a hand and Lena thought for a moment that she might demand they shake on it, but instead she held up her pinky finger toward Lena.

“Pinky promise?” she said.

“A what now?” Lena asked, looking at Kara’s hand with confusion. “Is this a Kryptonian thing?”

Kara’s eyes widened. “You— No, it’s not Kryptonian. It’s totally a human thing. Alex and I did this all the time when we were kids, sometimes we still do it. It’s a pinky promise. It’s just… I mean, it’s kind of like shaking hands but… different. How do you not know what a pinky promise is? Surely somebody in that boarding school you went to knew how to do a pinky promise.”

Lena felt her cheeks flush again. “Well, I guess I wasn’t exactly close enough to anyone to make many promises like that.”

Now Kara’s cheeks turned red as she realized what she had said. She nodded and swallowed slowly before raising her pinky again. “Well, then, I’ll be your first pinky promise.”

“Okay,” Lena said, holding up her own pinky and looking at Kara with a wary expression.

Kara looped her finger around Lena’s and moved their hands up and down quickly before releasing her. “There, now it’s binding. No take-backsies.”

Lena grinned at her playfulness. “No take backs.”

Kara nodded and returned Lena’s grin. Then suddenly her eyes widened and she hopped off the sofa so quickly Lena knew she had to be flying a little bit.

“Oh, I almost forgot, I wanted to give you something,” Kara said, crossing the room and digging through her purse. “Alex gave me a sonogram today to check on the baby’s progress.”

“Oh, yeah, is everything alright?” Lena asked.

Kara’s smile as she practically floated back to the sofa was answer enough. She snuggled up to Lena’s side and held out a handful of card-sized, thick paper. A grainy, black and white image was printed on each one.

_Oh._

Lena held the sonogram image like something precious in her hands. She had enough experience with medical imaging to know what to look for, and what she saw was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

“I didn’t expect it to look so… _human_ ,” Lena murmured.

“Why, because it’s an alien?” Kara asked, her voice confused and maybe a little offended.

“No, not that, just because of how early it is,” Lena said quickly. “I mean you’re only, what, twelve weeks now?”

“As of yesterday,” Kara nodded. “I know, it feels like it’s going so fast.”

“I just kind of envisioned some soft of blob or bean or something,” Lena said. “Not this.”

Kara giggled and rested her head on Lena’s shoulder. “I mean, it is still super tiny. But it’s definitely more than a blob.”

“It already has a face and a nose and everything,” Lena said, running her fingers reverently across the glossy surface of the image. “And it’s… it’s _inside_ you.”

“Yep, snug as a bug,” Kara said, reaching down to stroke at her belly.

Lena laughed as a memory came back to her. “Remember when I asked if you had a stomach bug?”

Kara laughed along with her. “Yeah, a baby bug.” Suddenly her face softened and she looked down at her belly. “Hey, Baby Bug! I like that!”

“Baby Bug?” Lena asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Yeah, as a nickname,” Kara said brightly, and Lena couldn’t argue with her infectious grin even if part of her did think the nickname was a little ridiculous.

“Okay, Baby Bug it is,” Lena declared.

They both collapsed into giggles. Lena reached over and placed a hand on Kara’s stomach.

“Don’t you worry, Baby Bug,” she said softly. “Auntie Lena’s on the case. I’m gonna find a way to make sure this nasty lead doesn’t hurt you once you’re out of your mommy’s belly, I promise. Pinky promise.”

When she looked back up at Kara, her friend’s blue eyes were wet with tears.

“What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you, Lena Luthor?” Kara asked.

“I ask myself the same question about you every day, Kara Danvers. Every single day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think in the comments! I'm hoping to get back on the wagon with this fic, because I have a lot of cute fluff (and some angst) planned out. And SuperCorp is endgame, don't worry, but it's a SLOW burn.
> 
> Also, I'm on tumblr as @emiliarowan if you want to see my ramblings (mainly me complaining about not being able to focus on writing, and reposting SuperCorp gifs) or yell at me to post another chapter.


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